WKRN-TV
'''WKRN-TV ch. 2, is the ABC affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee. It's transmitter is located in Brentwood, Tennessee. It brands itself as News 2. History The station 1st signed on the air on November 29, 1953 as WSIX-TV, the 2nd TV station in Nashville. It broadcast on ch. 8 & was owned by Louis & Jack Draughon along with WSIX-AM 980 (now WFYN-AM, a religious station). The calls came from the 638 Tire Company in nearby Springfield, where the Draughon brothers had started WSIX-AM in 1930; neither the radio nor the TV station have ever had the number 6 in their frequencies, which would explain it otherwise. Originally a CBS affiliate sharing ABC with WSM-TV (now WSMV), it became a full ABC affiliate after only 1 year when WLAC-TV (now WTVF) signed on & took the CBS affiliation due to WLAC's long history as a CBS radio affiliate. It's original studio was on Old Hickory Boulevard, just outside Nashville. In 1961, WSIX-AM-FM-TV moved to a new studio on Murfreesboro Road, where the TV station is located today. WSIX-TV, however, did not have much luck against WSM & WLAC. Part of the problem was a weak signal, as it's transmitter was short-spaced to ch. 8 in Atlanta - occupied first by WLWA-TV (now WXIA-TV) & currently occupied by WGTV. WSIX was also hampered by a weaker network affiliation (ABC was not truly competitive with CBS & NBC until well into the 1970s). The Draughons sold WSIX-AM-FM-TV to General Electric in 1966. In 1972, GE cut a deal with Nashville's PBS station, WDCN-TV (now WNPT), then on ch. 2, to swap dial positions. GE did this because the ch. 2 signal travels farther than the ch. 8 signal under most conditions. The swap occurred on December 11 1973, in the middle of evening prime-time programming. At the same time, even though General Electric still owned WSIX-AM-FM, it changed WSIX-TV's callsign to WNGE-TV (for N'ashville '''G'eneral 'E'lectric), leaving the radio stations' callsigns intact. This was only the 3rd facility swap in American TV history. Knight Ridder bought WNGE-TV in 1983 & changed the calls to the current WKRN-TV. Young Broadcasting, the current owners, bought the station in 1989. It is merely a coincidence that the call letters reflect Young Broadcasting's flagship outlet, KRON-TV in San Francisco. Like all other ABC affiliates owned by Young Broadcasting, WKRN preempted ABC's broadcast of the movie Saving Private Ryan in 2004. DTV The station's DT channel: In 2009, WKRN-TV will remain on it's current pre-transition ch. #, 27. However, through the use of PSIP, DTV receivers will display WKRN-TV's virtual ch. as 2. News/Station Presentation Newscast Titles *''WSIX-TV News'' (1953-1961) *''The Tennessee Report'' (1961-1965) *''The Six O'Clock Report/The Eleven O'Clock Report'' (1965-1968) *''Newsnight'' (1968-1969) *''Eyewitness News'' (1969-1972) *''The Big News'' (1972-1974) *''Dateline Today'' (1974-1976) *''Newswatch 2'' (1976-1983) *''Channel 2 News'' (1983-1994) *''News 2'' (1994-2008) *''News 2 in HD'' (2008-present) Station Slogans *'''1973-1978: The Powerhouse! *'1979-1981': 2 a New Beat *'1981-1984': The News Specialists *'1984-1986': Let's Get Involved *'1986-1987': The Winner's Circle! *'1987-1990': Something's Happening Here *'1990-1996': On Your Side *'1996-2001': Where Coverage Comes First! *'2001-2006': First. Fast. Accurate. *'2007-Now': Start Here. External links *News 2's Website *Liberadio(!) Interview with Bob Mueller